All Questions
5 questions
4
votes
2
answers
900
views
Is "take a knee" primarily used only in American football/sports?
Is the expression "to take a knee," meaning to kneel on one knee, an idiom that is mainly limited to American football and other sports (as well as, perhaps, military jargon)? Has it primarily been ...
- 1,114
9
votes
2
answers
7k
views
why do some people call green peppers mangoes?
I have heard people from Lima, Ohio refer to green peppers as mangoes. How did that come about?
- 91
3
votes
5
answers
28k
views
What is the origin of “I calls ’em like I sees ’em”?
This expression seems to be pretty widespread, for example being in Wiktionary and Futurama. Does anyone know what the origin is? Also, what kind of dialect might I calls or I sees be?
- 241
3
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Do things that “get one’s rocks off ” always “rock one’s socks off ”?
I see both of these two phrases used quite often and I have to question why rocks are so cool here. Is there a history behind both of these sayings, and is possible that both of them are just mere ...
- 1,418
2
votes
2
answers
705
views
Origin and usage of "for choice"
I recently encountered the phrase "for choice" to mean "by preference". At first it didn't look like idiomatic English to me, but a web search turned it up in a few other places. Is this common in ...
- 205